Retainer means for brake hangers



June 21, 1938. M. s. JOHNSON RETAINER MEANS FOR BRAKE HANGERS Filed Nov. 14, 1936 Patented June 21, 1938 RETAINER MEANS FOR BRAKE HANGERS Malcolm S. Johnson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Illinois Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, I lL, a corporation of Illinois Application November 14, 1936, Serial No. 110,843

Claims.

My invention relates to retainers whereby the link hangers for the brakes of railroad cars are 7 pendently secured in place in the usual sockets or pockets formed by laterally disposed lugs or 5 brackets which are generally integral with the truck frame.

The invention contemplates the use of the conventional link hangers and has for its object the provision of a pair of complementary members, identical in construction and each tapering toward one of the ends so that'when arranged in superposed hanger receiving relation, the tapered surfaces will ride on each other and induce a vertically spreading action whereby the members are forced into snug wedging relation with the top and bottom walls of the retainer and hanger receiving pocket or socket of the truck frame.

My invention also contemplates means involving a pair of hanger channel providing members, identical in construction so as to permit interchange or reversal of the superposed members in order to compensate for any wear that may take place on the lower hanger supporting member; the outer faces of the members and the upper and lower walls of the pocket or socket of the truck frame being provided with interengaging surfaces whereby the members are held against lengthwise and transverse movement.

Another object of my invention is to provide retainer means which may be easily applied and which will afford proper brake shoe key clearance during replacement operations of brake shoes.

The above enumerated objects and advantages, as well as other advantages inherent in the device, will all be fully comprehended from the detailed description of the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the supporting arm or bracket of the truck frame, of which only a portion is shown, illustrating my improved retainer means in place and the lower portion of the link or hanger broken away.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2 looking downwardly.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the retainer elements as viewed from the outer side thereof.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the outer end or socket portion of the supporting arm or bracket of the truck frame.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of one of the retainer elements showing the inner or hanger receiving side of the element.

My improved retainer means is intended for use with truck frames provided with a properly positioned and disposed hanger receiving pocket or socket whereby the hanger with attached brake head will be pendently supported in place adjacent the wheels of the truck.

In the exemplification of the invention, a portion of the truck frame is shown at H! provided with a laterally disposed bracket or arm H with the outer end of this bracket or arm formed to provide the vertically spaced walls l2, l3 united along one longitudinal side by the arcuate wall portion M, see Figures 2 and 5, whereby an open ended pocket or socket is provided which also is open along one longitudinal side. The vertically spaced wallportions l2, [3, as can clearly be seen in the drawing, provide a pocket or socket adapted to receive the brake hanger or link, a portion whereof is shown at [5 in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

The pocket or socket in the supporting arm is of dimensions suflicient to also receive a pair of complementary retainer members It which are identical in construction.

These retainer members consist of elongated plates or castings of sufiicient thickness, with one face provided with an arcuate groove H extending from end to end intermediate of the sides; the semi-circular grooves of the two members or plates I6 when in proper superposed relation being intended to provide a circular groove or channel for the upper end of the hanger I5.

One end of each plate is provided with a laterally disposed lobe or ear 18 extending toward the grooved side of the plate or member iii and substantially at right angles to the groove of the member. The lobes of the two members are apertured as at l9 to receive a suitable bolt 2:1), see Figures 1 and 3.

The outer face of each plate or member i6 is provided with the intersecting or crossing grooves 2|, 22, see Figure 4, for the purpose of matching surfaces formed on the inner sides of the walls l2 and I3 of the pocket or socket oi the truck frame arm ll. Thatis to say, the one wall, for example the upper wall l2 of the socket, is provided with a rib 23 disposed lengthwise of the wall and hence from end toend of the socket,:as shown in Figure 5; while the lower wall l3 of the socket is provided with a pair of intersecting or crossing ribs Hand 25, see Figure 5.

It is apparent from the structure shown and described that either plate or member I6 is adapted to effect interengaging relation with either the top wall or the lower wall of the socket.

If the plate or member l6 shown in Figure 4 is placed in the bracket arm socket adjacent the upper wall l2, the longitudinal groove 2| of the member or plate IE will register with and receive rib 23 and thus prevent movement of the plate or member l6 toward the open longitudinal side of the pocket or socket, If the plate or member I6, as shown in Figure 4, is inverted, its longitudinal groove 2| will receive longitudinal rib 24 on the lower wall I 3 of the socket while the groove 22 of plate I6 will receive the transverse rib 25 on the lower wall iii of the socket.

Both plates or members I6 taper or increase in thickness from one end toward the other; that is to say the plates or members increase in thickness toward the end provided with the lobe l8, as can more clearly be seen in Figures 1 and 6; the extent and direction of the taper being more clearly shown at the abutting edges between the upper and lower plates and indicated by the reference numeral 26 in Figure 1. It is evident that with the sloping longitudinal edges, a vertically directed wedging action will be provided when the lobed ends of the two plates or members are forced in a direction toward each other and hence the plates or members will be forced into vertical binding relation with the upper and lower walls of the socket in the bracket arm.

In assembling my improved retainer means, the upper end of the brake hanger I5 is placed in the groove I! of one of the plates or members I 6; the hanger holding member I6 is then inserted through the open longitudinal side of the bracket arm socket and the criss-cross groove side or face of the member I6 brought to rest on the lowerwall l3 of the socket. With the criss-cross grooves 2l-22 on the outer face of the member l6 receiving the corresponding ribs 24-25 on the lower wall l3 of the socket, the

member will be held against movement both 1ongitudinally and transversely of the socket. By inverting the plate or member l6 from the position shown in Figure 4 (so the hanger receiving groove 11 is disposed upwardly) it is apparent that the lobe I8 of the member will be disposed at the right hand end of the bracket-arm socket as viewed in Figures 1 and 5. After positioning the member with the hanger as above described, the second plate or member l6 (identical with the one shown in Figure 4 and positioned as there shown) is then endwisely slid into the bracketarm socket with its groove l1 facing downwardly toward the hanger and the lower plate or member H5.

The upper plate or member I6 must be inserted from the left hand end of the pocket or socket as viewed in Figures 1 and 5 because the lobe l8 of the first inserted plate will prevent insertion from that end of the socket.

The insertion of the upper plate is effected by introducing the tapered or thinner end of the plate (see Figure 6) with the groove 2| aligned with the rib 23 of the upper wall of the socket thereby causing the perimeter of the plate to ride along the perimeter or longitudinal edges of the lower plate. After the upper plate has been inserted as described the bolt 20 is then inserted through the ears or lobes l8 of the two members as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the head of the bolt engaging one of the ears while the other ear or lobe is engaged by the nut or nuts 21 when the latter are screwed up on the bolt 20 thereby tending to move the plates or members in opposite directions lengthwise of each other, causing the plates to wedge upwardly and downwardly into greater binding relation with the top and bottom walls of the bracket and hence will prevent any chatter between the retainer means and the bracket arm. It will be understood, of course, that the opposite longitudinal movement is of but slight degree, such movement being possible because of the slight differences in dimensions between the grooves and the ribs which result during the casting or formation of the various elements of the structure.

The exemplification of the invention as disclosed in the drawing is believed to be the best embodiment, but certain modifications may possibly be made within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:--

1. Brake hanger retainer means of the character described comprising, in combination with the hanger-receiving socket on the truck frame, a pair of complementary members increasing in thickness from one end to the other with the enlarged end provided with a laterally disposed apertured lobe, one face of each member being provided with an arcuate groove extending from end to end of the member adapted to receive a brake hanger, while the opposite face of each member is provided with surfaces adapted to effect gripping relation with the adjacent wall of the socket, and adjustable means adapted to extend through the lobes of both members and to effect pressure on both members in opposite directions whereby one member is made to ride upwardly on the other and both members caused to exert a wedging action in a vertical direction against the upper and lower walls of said socket.

2. Brake hanger retainer means of the character described comprising, in combination with the hanger receiving socket on the truck frame, the upper and the lower walls of said socket being provided with ribs, a pair of complementary members adapted to be arranged in superposed relation in said socket, the opposing faces of the two members being formed to provide a hanger receiving channel, while the outer faces of both members are provided with grooves adapted to register with the ribs on the walls of the socket, said members increasing in thickness from one end to the other with the enlarged end of each member provided with an apertured lobe, and bolt and nut means adapted to engage the lobes of both members and to exert pressure on the pair of members in opposite directions whereby said members are caused toride upon each other and to effect a binding relation with the upper and the lower walls of said socket.

3. Brake hanger retainer means of the character described comprising a pair of complementary members adapted to be arranged in superposed relation in a socket in the truck frame, the opposing faces of the two members being formed to combinedly provide a hanger receiving channel, the members increasing in thickness from one end to the other to provide coacting sloping surfaces on opposite sides of the channel and thereby effect a wedging relation in a vertical direction with the walls of the socket when said members move lengthwise of each other in opposite directions, each member, to one side of the channel, being provided with an aperture, and regulating means disposed through the apertures of both members whereby the members are secured together and pressure on the members exerted in opposite longitudinal directions.

4. Brake hanger retainer means of the character described comprising a pair of complementary elongated members increasing in thickness from one end to the other so as to provide a sloping abutting surface between the members when arranged in superposed relation, the opposing faces of the members being formed to provide a hanger receiving channel therebetween, each member at the enlarged end being provided with a laterally disposed apertured lobe, and adjustable means adapted to extend through the apertures of the lobes and to exert pressure on said members longitudinally in opposite directions.

5. Brake hanger retainer means of the character described comprising a pair of complementary elongated members increasing in thickness from one end to the other so as to provide sloping abutting surfaces between the members when arranged in superposed relation, the opposing faces of the members being formed to provide a hanger receiving channel therebetween, each member at the enlarged end being provided with a laterally disposed apertured lobe, the outer faces of said members being formed to provide locking surfaces, and adjustable means adapted to extend through the apertures of the lobes and to exert pressure on said members longitudinally in opposite directions.

MALCOLM S. JOHNSON. 

